Economic Strategies of Two Early Bronze Age Villages in the Southern Levant: Explaining Coastal Abandonment Versus Inland Urban Development

Roey Nickelsberg, Anastasia Shapiro, Anat Cohen-Weinberger, Yitzhak Paz, Itai Elad, Assaf Yasur-Landau, Ruth Shahack-Gross

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The southern Levantine coast was settled continuously for three millennia, from the Neolithic period until its abandonment in Early Bronze Age II, in sharp contrast to inland sites that developed into urbanized cities. This study examines this phenomenon by investigating the pottery production component of the economic systems of two contemporary EB I villages: a shoreline coastal site that was abandoned (Dor South) and an inland site that evolved into an urban center ('En Esur). This pilot ceramic petrography examination shows two distinct strategies, with 'En Esur producing pottery primarily from local raw materials and Dor South relying mainly on imported pottery, potentially weakening the once-resilient coastal system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)49-77
Number of pages29
JournalAtiqot
Volume115
StatePublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Israel Antiquities Authority. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • coastal archaeology
  • coastal resources
  • Dor South
  • EB IA
  • En Esur
  • sustainability
  • trade networks

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